Sliding partition



.(No Model.) i 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. HAYES.

SLIDING PARTITION. No. 447,610. Patented Mar. 3, 1891.

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Witn'emew Ian/@7120? (No Model.) 3 Sheets- -Sheet 2. J. HAYES. SLIDING PARTITION.

No. 447,610. Patented Mar. 3, 1891.

Mine 20 (No Model.) 3 Sheets--Sheet 3. J. HAYES.

SLIDING PARTITION.

No.. 447,610. Patented Mar. 8, 1891.

NITE STAT S JAMES HAYES, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SLIDING PARTITION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,610, dated March 3, 1891.

Application filed April 18, 1890. Serial No. 348,453- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES HAYES, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Cleveland, in the cou nty of Ouyahoga, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sliding Partitions, of which I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in sliding partitions, and is especially designed for use in the interior of public or private buildings where an inclosed space of varying size and proportions is required.

The object of the invention is to provide means for throwing two rooms inclosed into one or to provide a smaller opening for communication between the inclosed spaces at will; and it consists in a vertically-sliding partition with the inclosed opening and door or doors and in the arrangement and construction of details, as hereinafter described, shown in the drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in broken section, of one form of my partition. Fig. l is a cross-section on line x 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved partition, as shown in Fig. 1, and detached from the wall. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a larger form of partition;

Fig. 3 a plan of doors in the same. an edge view of same. vation of guides for the partition. Fig. 5 is aplan of the same. Fig. 6 is a section of junction of door and partition, showinghinge. Fig. 7 is a detail of block to which hoistingrope is attached. Fig. 8 is a detail of finger catch, and Fig. 0 is a detail of the safety device shown in Fig. 3.

A in the drawings represents a partition which may be made of any desired size and designed to fill any required space, as the width of a room or hallway, and is constructed mainly of panels with rabbeted edges, as shown in Fig. 1, where the opening does not extend to the celling; but a fixed partition, as A, partly broken away in drawing, re mains across the upper part of the room.

Fig. 3 is Fig. dis a broken ele- These panels a are connected together at the top and bottom by means of the iron bars 0 and D, which prevent their warping laterally out of shape and keep them rigidly in contact.

In Fig. .3 four panels, as a, are shown as rig idly attached to the bars 0 and D,while in the center is a door, as B, hinged atb to permit it to be opened or closed at will and allow of ingress and egress through the partition A when down. If desired, more than one door B may be hinged to the partition and the two may act as folding doors. These .hinged doors may be added wherever a smaller opening than the one filled by the partition is desira ble for use when the partition is down. WVhen the width of the opening is so great that a proper proportion requires that it should extend to the ceiling, an integral strip, as A may be added to the upper portion of the partition, which shall be the equivalent in size of the space remaining above them and shall form a portion of the partition, as shown in detail in Fig. 3. In this case for additional strength and rigidity a bar of iron, as L, may be attached to the lower edge of the portion A and be inserted in a groove in theupper edge of the door or doors and panels, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in detail, Fig. 3. These partitions are supported vertically in guides, as E, and may be raised or lowered by hand, employing the gripping-plates M on the door B, which must be tightly closed. The weight of the partition A is balanced, or nearly so, by means of weights, as I, and cords, as G, passing over pulleys, as H, in an upper floor.

In order that the pull on the partition may be even and that there may be no twisting of the partition out of shape, a number of cords and weights may be used at frequent intervals, and are preferably attached as follows: Vertical bands, as E, pass from top to bottom of the partition on the side rails of the panels and are bent over blocks, as F, on the top. The cords G are attached to loops, as j,

in these blocks, and in this manner firmly support the entire partition.

To assist the rigidity of the door and ore vent sagging, the beam 0 is added to the bar Ioc O on top of the partition, and the blocks F attached thereto when the portion A is not employed. The partition A on being raised slides into an inclosed space in the wall of the building above, the studding being divided for its passage. Studs are so arranged as to come opposite the strips E, and are pro vided with eorres jionding strips, as E, slightly projecting, so that all the wear of the partition comes upon these strips and the door remains unchanged by use. The arrangement of these parts may be distinctly seen in Figs. 4 and 5, and as many strips E may be used as seems desirable.

To prevent jar or noise when the parti' tion is thrown up rapidly a stop of coiled spring, as J, containing a rubberbuifer, as K, may be used with advantage, as shown in Fig. 1.

The weights I may be allowed to fall in a space in the wall left for them, as between the studding, and a small door may give access to them at any time for adjustment. A number of weights and cords are desirable, so that if one breaks the remaining will still balance the door. Again, the weights can be smaller when a number are used, and will not strain the cords so much.

Figs. 6, '7, and 8 show details of the hinges and catches, while Fig. 9 shows a detail of the safety device marked 0 in Fig. 3, which is constructed asfollows: O is alever pivoted on the top of the partition at o. A portion 0 of the lever projects toward the inner edge of the groove in the guide E. The projecting portion 0 of the lever O is designed to act as a dog and stop the fall of the partition in case the cords G should break, and operates as follows: A cord, as l, connects the cord G with the longer arm of the lever O, and elevates it, so as to prevent the dog 0 from engaging with the side of the groove until the cord G breaks, when it is forced upward by the spring Q, and engages with the solid face, so as to prevent further movement of the partition.

In operation the partition moves noiselessly in its grooves and requires no effort to raise or lower it, and the strip D, being flat and thin, forms an unnoticed threshold to the door 13, and does not disturb the footsteps in passing.

A great variety of size and proportion is possible in designing the doors, and they may be applied to any situation desired.

An additional central cord S, with light weight '1, may be employed to assist in raising the partition by hand in case it should be caught in the guides E, as shown in Fig. 3; also, the end of the portion A may be strengthened by the plate V, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 0.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let tors Patent, is

1. The combination, with a vcrtieallysliding partition having panels, as a, a hinged door or doors, as B, a strip 0, to which the upper ends of said panels are rigidly secured, and a thin flat strip D, to which the lower ends of said panels are secured, said stripsO and D stiffening the partition and said str1p D serving also as an unnoticed threshold for the door or doors, of guiding-posts receiving the edges of said partition, pulleys, cords secured at one end to said partition, and counter-weights secured to the opposite ends of said cords.

2. In asliding partition, panels, a hmgcd door between the same, connecting-strips at the top and bottom of said partition, vertically-grooved posts at either side, and a stiffening-beam on the upper end, all substantially as described, and for the purposes specifled.

3. In a sliding partition, panels, as a, and a hinged door, as B, between the same, in combination with the bearing-strips E and connecting-strips O and I), all arranged substantially as described, and for thepurposes specified.

4. In a sliding partition, panels, hinged doors between said panels, metallic strips on the upper and lower edges of said partition, vertical bearing-strips E on said panels, vertieal guiding-grooves on either side of the partition, and an inclosu re between divided studding in the wall above the sliding partition, in combination with bearing-strips E arranged opposite said bearing-strips E, all as described, and for the purposes specified.

5. The combination, with a partition and guide-posts having vertical grooves receiving the sides of said partition, of vertical bearing-strips E in said partition, additional bearing-strips E arranged opposite said bear1ngstrips, and cords secured at one end to the top of said partition, pulleys over which said cords pass, and counter-weights on the other end of said cords.

6. In a sliding partition, a lower portion of separate panels rabbeted together, an upper integral portion, and a metallic bar, as L, received by grooves in the upper edge of the panels, substantially as described.

7. In a sliding partition, a lower portion of separate panels rabbeted together, a hinged door between the same, an upper integral portion, as A a metallic bar, as L, attached to the lower edge of the portion A and inserted in grooves in the upper edge of the panels, with strengthening-bars at the upper and lower edges of the partition, substantially as described, and strengthening-bars at the side connecting the upper portion of the partition and the other doors.

The combination, with a vertically-sliding partition, cords attached to its upper ends, pulleys over which said cords pass, and counter-weights on the opposite ends of said IIO ' by said dog will automatically stop said pariition in the event of abreakage of the cords, substantially as described.

JAMES HAYES. Witnesses:

WILLIAM M. MONROE, MAYNCE REID. 

